Abuse of journalists in Ghana’s digital space is rising, a trend experts warn could exert a profound “chilling effect” on journalism, undermining a key pillar of a democratic society: press freedom. The survey shows that journalists covering contentious social, political, and cultural issues are increasingly targeted by those opposing their views, often using social media platforms like X and Facebook to launch barrages of insults, sexual harassment, and defamation.

Key findings from 502 cases tracked

The DisinfoEye platform’s third quarter snapshot, analyzed and examined specific instances of abuse across eight journalists, contributing to a total of 502 cases since monitoring began. In all, data from 20 journalists were examined.

Key insights include:

• Abuse types: Insults dominate at 70% (352 cases), followed by sexual harassment at 20% (100 cases), and defamation/smear campaigns at 10% (50 cases).
• Gender disparity: Approximately 60% of abuses target female journalists, who face additional gendered attacks such as body-shaming and sexualized threats.
• Platforms: 80% of cases occur on X/Twitter, 20% on Facebook.
• High-risk topics: Political commentary drives 50% of abuses, followed by cultural issues (30%) and corruption (20%).

A 2020 UNESCO report showed that 31% of journalists tone down coverage due to online harassment, while 15% abandon stories entirely.

Top eight most abused journalists

The DisinfoEye platform identified the following journalists as the most abused, based on harassment instances tracked:

Gendered abuse and press freedom

DisinfoEye’s data reaffirms the UNESCO finding that female journalists bear an extra burden, with 60% of abuses and also face sexualized insults. These attacks suppress diverse media voices. The platform’s hotline received over 50 reports, enabling interventions like counseling and legal support. Smear campaigns, up 25% during election seasons, threaten further growth, with a projected 20% rise by 2026 without action.

Gideon Sarpong, iWatch Africa’s co-founder and digital rights expert, stated:

“iWatch Africa is determined to work closely with CHRAJ, policymakers, and law enforcement to develop protocols for psychological and legal support for journalists, proper reporting of online harassment, and enhanced content moderation. All criminal-level abuses will be submitted to the police and CHRAJ for investigation and redress.”

“The rapid proliferation of AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic media is dramatically intensifying targeted attacks and abuses against journalists. To counter this escalating threat, the journalism community, tech platforms, and policymakers must adopt far more robust, coordinated, and proactive measures including real-time detection tools, sustained digital-safety training, and enforceable accountability mechanisms for those who weaponise these technologies.”

The DisinfoEye initiative has so far empowered 20 newsrooms in Ghana with Online Safety Units, and trained 5 monitors for real-time tracking, and reached over 5 million Ghanaians through awareness campaigns.

Journalists can directly report abuses via www.disinfoeye.com or contact info@iwatchafrica.org.

The 502 cases documented by DisinfoEye, expose a critical threat to Ghanaian journalists. Through real-time data, advocacy, and partnerships, iWatch Africa is committed to building a safer digital ecosystem to safeguard press freedom and bolster Ghana’s democracy.

Report by iWatch Africa

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Presentations that Set the Agenda

Philip Kwasi Banini opened the substantive part of the meeting with a detailed overview of the project’s aims, including empowering journalists, exposing disinformation campaigns and fostering media literacy. He outlined how DisinfoEye is working to generate credible data, collaborate with tech firms and scale its impact across Ghanaian newsrooms.

Moro Seidu followed with a presentation titled “Understanding Online Harassment & Abuse Against Journalists”. He explained the various forms of digital threats – from doxxing and troll campaigns to sexualised attacks – and reviewed trends specific to Ghana, drawn from recent platform data. Seidu emphasised the gendered dimensions of online abuse and the importance of structured monitoring.

Review of Progress & Impact

The project, supported by Impact Amplifier, set four major outcomes: reducing online abuse of women journalists and children; enhancing internet literacy among journalists; establishing tracking and mitigation systems in 20 newsrooms; and educating over 5 million Ghanaians on protecting journalists. Presenters reported that the training of 20 journalists and 5 monitors is complete, all 20 newsrooms have Online Safety Units underway, and campaign outreach is nearing its 5 million-person target.

Monitors confirmed use of the DisinfoEye platform to document incidents in real-time. They highlighted improved detection and flagging of harassment cases, especially those directed at female journalists.

Challenges & Lessons Learned

Discussion flagged key obstacles: restricted access to social-media APIs due to budget limits, uneven newsroom staffing and capacity, and the difficulty of monitoring abuse across local languages and platforms. Seidu’s presentation emphasised that while data-driven monitoring is essential, without platform cooperation and newsroom resources the impact remains limited. The group agreed on the need for shared resource-pools and flexible tools.

Looking Ahead: Sustainability & Scale

The meeting concluded with a call for the next phase: expanding DisinfoEye to 50 newsrooms by 2026, securing funding for advanced analytics and API access, deepening partnerships with tech firms, and launching refresher training for monitors and newsroom staff. iWatch Africa reiterated its commitment to working with regulatory bodies and media houses to institutionalise online-safety protocols.

Why This Matters

As journalism shifts deeper into digital spaces, the training, monitoring and data-generation spearheaded by DisinfoEye become critical to press freedom, especially in Ghana. The insights shared by Banini and Seidu highlight that without structural support and a monitoring ecosystem, online harassment can silence voices, shrink coverage and weaken democratic accountability.

Source: iWatch Africa

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“We built DisinfoEye because we saw the growing threats journalists—especially women—face online,” said Gideon Sarpong, Co-Founder of iWatch Africa. “This is not just a data platform; it’s a movement to protect truth and ensure that misinformation does not undermine democracy in Ghana.”

The growing threat of misinformation

The digital age has transformed how information is shared and consumed, but it has also given rise to a global crisis of misinformation. False narratives, viral hoaxes, and targeted harassment campaigns have eroded trust in media, undermined democratic processes, and endangered vulnerable groups, including journalists. In Ghana, where the media plays a critical role in fostering transparency and accountability, journalists face increasing threats of online abuse and disinformation. According to a 2024 report by the Media Foundation for West Africa, over 60% of Ghanaian journalists have experienced some form of online harassment, with many targeted by coordinated disinformation campaigns.

iWatch Africa, a leading organization dedicated to promoting digital safety and accountability, recognized the urgent need for a solution that could address this growing threat. DisinfoEye is the result—a robust platform that empowers journalists, fact-checkers, and citizens to combat misinformation effectively and in real-time.

DisinfoEye: a comprehensive approach to fighting disinformation

DisinfoEye stands out as a multifaceted platform that integrates cutting-edge AI technology with community engagement to address misinformation at its core. The platform is designed to operate 24/7, scanning and analyzing content across six or more digital platforms, including social media, news websites, and blogs. With a remarkable 92% detection accuracy, DisinfoEye processes over 200 pieces of content daily, identifying potential misinformation and flagging it for further review.

Key Features of DisinfoEye

AI-Powered Detection
At the heart of DisinfoEye lies its advanced AI algorithms, which are trained to identify patterns of misinformation in real-time. By analyzing text, images, and metadata, the platform can detect false narratives, manipulated content, and coordinated disinformation campaigns with unparalleled precision. This capability ensures that users stay ahead of emerging threats, enabling rapid responses to viral falsehoods.

Community Reporting Tools:
DisinfoEye empowers users to contribute to the fight against misinformation by submitting detailed reports on suspicious content. These reports feed into a growing database, which enhances the platform’s ability to track and analyze misinformation trends. By fostering community participation, DisinfoEye creates a collaborative ecosystem where citizens and professionals work together to uphold truth.

Social Media Monitoring:
The platform’s social monitoring tools track viral content and analyze social media patterns to identify the spread of misinformation. By mapping how false information propagates across platforms, DisinfoEye provides actionable insights for journalists, fact-checkers, and policymakers to counter disinformation campaigns before they gain traction.

Digital Safety and Empowerment:
Beyond detection, DisinfoEye prioritizes the safety and empowerment of its users. The platform offers resources and training programs to equip journalists and citizens with the skills needed to navigate online threats. From digital safety workshops to fact-checking guides, DisinfoEye ensures that its users are well-prepared to confront misinformation and harassment.

“Technology alone isn’t enough—we need communities to take part,” added Sarpong. “DisinfoEye blends advanced AI with human engagement to create a safer, more informed digital space.”

Impact in Ghana: training and awareness

As part of its launch, DisinfoEye has already made significant strides in Ghana. iWatch Africa has trained 20 journalists in digital safety and fact-checking, equipping them with the tools and knowledge to combat online abuse and misinformation. These journalists, drawn from various media houses across the country, are now part of a growing network of professionals dedicated to upholding truth in Ghana’s media landscape.

In addition to training, iWatch Africa has launched a nationwide digital campaign to raise awareness about misinformation and promote digital literacy. With a goal of reaching over 5 million Ghanaians, the campaign leverages DisinfoEye’s real-time tools to educate the public on identifying and countering false information. By focusing 95% of its efforts on combating disinformation, DisinfoEye is driving a cultural shift toward greater accountability and transparency in the digital space.

A call to action: join the fight for truth

The launch of DisinfoEye marks a pivotal moment in the global fight against misinformation. iWatch Africa invites individuals, organizations, media professionals, and civil society groups to join the DisinfoEye movement and contribute to a more informed digital world. By signing up at www.disinfoeye.com, users can access the platform’s real-time tools, submit reports, and learn more about its cutting-edge technology.

The platform’s user-friendly interface makes it accessible to a wide audience, from tech-savvy fact-checkers to everyday citizens concerned about the spread of false information. Whether you’re a journalist tracking a disinformation campaign, a citizen reporting a suspicious post, or an organization seeking to promote digital literacy, DisinfoEye offers the tools and resources to make a difference.

The technology behind DisinfoEye

DisinfoEye’s approach sets it apart as a leader in misinformation detection. The platform’s algorithms are designed to adapt to the evolving tactics of disinformation campaigns, ensuring that it remains effective against new and emerging threats. By analyzing linguistic patterns, visual manipulations, and network behaviors, DisinfoEye can identify subtle signs of misinformation that might go unnoticed by human moderators.

To ensure transparency and accountability, DisinfoEye provides users with detailed reports on flagged content, including the reasoning behind its detection. This feature not only builds trust in the platform but also educates users about the characteristics of misinformation, empowering them to make informed decisions about the content they encounter online.

Looking ahead: a vision for a truthful digital future

The launch of DisinfoEye is just the beginning. iWatch Africa envisions a future where the platform serves as a cornerstone of digital safety and accountability across Africa and beyond. By expanding its reach, enhancing its AI capabilities, and forging partnerships with media organizations, governments, and tech companies, DisinfoEye aims to set a global standard for combating misinformation.

In the coming months, iWatch Africa plans to roll out additional features for DisinfoEye, including enhanced analytics for tracking disinformation campaigns and expanded training programs for journalists and community leaders. The organization is also exploring collaborations with international fact-checking networks to amplify the platform’s impact.

Get involved today

iWatch Africa invites all stakeholders to join the DisinfoEye movement and take a stand against misinformation. Visit www.disinfoeye.com to sign up, explore the platform’s features, and contribute to the fight for truth.

“With support from partners like Impact Amplifier, we’re building a model that can be scaled across Africa to protect democratic discourse and defend truth,” Sarpong concluded.

For inquiries, contact iWatch Africa at:
📩 Email: info@iwatchafrica.org
📞 Phone: +233 240 791 865 | +233 560 520 654
📍 Address: No. 11 Dr. Morton Loop, Adabraka, Accra

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With support from the Impact Amplifier Foundation, iWatch Africa is equipping journalists from  newsrooms across Ghana to establish online safety units within their organizations. This initiative responds to the increasing threats and online violence faced by journalists, especially female journalists.

This program is part of iWatch Africa’s broader digital rights initiative to track, document, analyze and counter threats against journalists and media workers within West Africa’s digital ecosystem.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must:

• Be a Ghanaian nationals, aged between 18 and 45 years.
• Be a journalist or work within the media ecosystem.
• Be committed to influencing positive change in their newsroom or media organization.
• Media development practitioners and activists involved in media support programs in Ghana are also encouraged to apply.

Note: Female journalists are strongly encouraged to apply.

Requirements:

All selected applicants will be MANDATED to participate in the tracking of online abuse and harassment of journalists across Ghana.

Program timeline

• Application Deadline: 13th June 2025 at 11:00 PM GMT.
• Notification of Selected Applicants: 27st June 2025
• Training Date: TBD
• Tracking of abuses and harassment: TBD
• Please consider your application unsuccessful if you do not hear from us by the close of June, 2025.

Costs related to participation will be fully covered by iWatch Africa.

Apply here by clicking here or copy and paste URL into your browswer https://forms.gle/ue1hDrkaNjV6uE3d7

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iWatch Africa with support from Impact Amplifier Foundation, is equipping and assisting 20 journalists from twenty newsrooms in Ghana to set up online safety units in response to the growing online violence experienced by journalists, particularly female journalists.

This project is a sequel to iWatch Africa’s digital rights initiative launched in 2020 to track, document and analyze threats against journalists, media workers within the digital ecosystem in West Africa.

Eligibility:
Applicants are expected to be:
• Ghanaian nationals aged between 18 and 45 years old, and must be prepared to influence change in their newsroom or organization.
• Must be a journalist or work within the media ecosystem.
• People or activists who directly contribute to media development programs in Ghana.

NOTE: Female journalists are strongly encouraged to apply.

Requirements:
All selected applicants will be MANDATED to introduce a protocol on dealing with online abuse and harassment of journalists in their organization after the program.
Applicants should follow our social media handles: Twitter: @iwatchafrica for updates.
Important Dates:
• Deadline for applications:  18th May 2024; 11: 00pm GMT. Applicants will also be selected on rolling basis.
• All selected applicants will be contacted by 23rd May, 2024.

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In Ghana and Nigeria, ADRF’s support has seen iWatch Africa engage 20 newsrooms on online safety of women journalists. Leveraging the Keeping Journalists Safe Online: A Guide for Newsrooms in West Africa and Beyond, the newsrooms were supported to set up safety protocols and response measures to safeguard women journalists against abuse.

Through a multiplier model, journalists from the supported newsrooms (10 from Ghana and 10 from Nigeria) also underwent a Training of Trainers programme on the use of filtering applications such as TRFilter which helps document and manage online harassment and abuse. Furthemore, the participants discussed strategies through which journalists, government agencies and civil society could push back more effectively against online violence. The training facilitators included practitioners from Thomson Reuters Foundation; iWatch Africa; Techpreneur Magazine; The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ); and Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII).

The trained journalists have since gone on to train an additional 100 journalists within their networks. A further offshoot from the project was the formation of a discussion forum for networking, sharing experiences and lessons learned amongst the supported newsrooms.

The ADRF, an initiative of the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has previously supported iWatch Africa to track, document and analyse online abuse and harassment against journalists and rights activists covering political and societal issues in Ghana. In partnership with the Ghana Police and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), iWatch Africa developed draft guidelines for the prevention of online abuse and harassment. The organisation has continued to undertake advocacy in the field while engaging stakeholders on offering legal support for victims to seek redress.

According to Gideon Sarpong, the Executive Director of iWatch Africa, ADRF’s support has helped raise awareness about the importance of protecting journalists and contributed to a safer media environment. “The cohort of journalists trained and their newsrooms could be the catalysts to curbing digital violence against women journalists in Ghana and Nigeria,” said Sarpong.

According to the State of Media Freedom and Safety of Journalists in Africa Report for 2022, trolling and online harassment of journalists has become a serious threat to press freedom. It notes that trolls threaten and silence critical journalists and harass many, particularly women, forcing some to abandon social media. (Xanax) According to the report, the low levels of digital security skills; poor reporting of online abuses to law enforcement agencies; the limited skills and interest of authorities in investigating and prosecuting cyber crimes; and the inadequacy of existing laws in tackling trolling and online violence especially against women, only exacerbate the problem.

The ADRF was established in recognition that technology had become pivotal to promoting livelihoods and human rights on the continent but there was a need to strengthen local capacity in evidence-based research, skills and knowledge, collaborative advocacy and impactful policy engagements responsive to regulatory and practice developments that affect internet freedom in Africa.

The ADRF’s supporters have included the Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), the Ford Foundation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the German Society for International Cooperation Agency (GIZ), New Venture Fund (NVF) and the Omidyar Network.

Ashnah Kalemera | CIPESA

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The event will convene a spectrum of stakeholders from across the internet governance and digital rights arena in Africa and beyond, and will take place in Lusaka, Zambia from September 26-29, 2022.

In accordance with FIFAfrica22, iWatch Africa will participate in a session on “Empowering newsrooms to deal with abuse of women journalists in Africa”. The session will focus on the preparedness of newsrooms to tackle abuse of  journalists, particularly women journalists within the digital ecosystem.

Read More: iWatch Africa selects 20 journalists to tackle online abuse & harassment of journalists in West Africa

Join iWatch Africa’s Co-founder, and monitoring and evaluation expert, Moro Seidu in Zambia (virtually or Physically) on the 28th of September 2022 as he shares the discussion platform with Doreen Raheena Sulleyman-Editor in Chief at Techpreneur Magazine, Cecilia Maundu of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT), Prossy Sheila Kawala of the International Training Programme on Media Development in a Democratic Framework (ITP) and George Lugalambi of the African Center for Media Excellence (ACME).

You can register and join us remotely -> https://bit.ly/3QZo9EL
#FIFAfrica22
#InternetFreedomAfrica

Credit: iwatchafrica.org

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The increasing turn to social media platforms for news has not gone unnoticed by autocratic leaders around the world today, whose hold on power depends on the ability to  silence dissent, muzzle truth-telling, and censor independent news media. That is why content moderation policies must consider their real-life impacts on human rights and press freedom. Divorced from these principles, these policies can have devastating real-life consequences on burgeoning democratic movements and media systems under autocratic regimes.

Facebook’s Actions Help Authoritarian Leaders Stifle Critical Speech Online

Following Haugen’s document release in 2021, the Washington Post reported that Facebook CEO Zuckerberg gave in to censorship demands from Vietnam’s communist government, removing more than 2,200 posts between July and December 2020.

Commenting on the issue, the human rights organization Amnesty International warned that “Facebook’s compliance with these demands sets a dangerous precedent.”  The group further cautioned that, “governments around the world will see this as an open invitation to enlist Facebook in the service of state censorship.”

Facebook is estimated to take in around a billion dollars in annual revenue in Vietnam. The country is also the company’s largest source of revenue in Southeast Asia and a huge potential growth market. Many experts, including  Haugen, believe that Facebook’s rapacious focus on profit undermines its democratizing potential.

Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s regional deputy director for campaigns, described social media platforms in Vietnam as becoming “hunting grounds for censors, military cyber-troops, and state-sponsored trolls.”

“The platforms themselves are not merely letting it happen—they’re increasingly complicit” she added.

In their transparency report, Facebook acknowledged that it had restricted access to more than 600 items between January and June 2021 in response to requests from the government of Vietnam. According to the report, Facebook removed the posts because they allegedly violated a law that criminalizes “content opposing the Communist Party and the Government of Vietnam.”

All of this has significant impact on democratic movements and independent media across the Global South, where the inconsistent decisions made by social media giants are exploited by autocrats to silence critical voices and media organizations.

For example, the Vietnamese Communist Party, emboldened by years of systematic online repression and acquiescence from companies like Facebook, jailed five journalists in October 2021 for what it described as “spreading anti-state content” on Facebook-based news outlet Bao Sach (Clean Newspaper). The news page is currently not available on Facebook.

Meanwhile, the situation is not any better in India, often called the world’s largest democracy but which is now seen as descending into the ranks of “flawed democracies” or “electoral autocracies.” Facebook’s failure to deal with incitement of violence and its  lack of a consistent content moderation policy  have bolstered the government of India’s effort to undermine critical voices and independent media.

According to its 2021 transparency report, Facebook removed 442 items between January and June 2021 “in response to directions from India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for violating Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.” The law Facebook cited to justify its compliance with government censorship requests “undermines the public’s right to receive information, which is a core component of the fundamental freedom [of] speech and expression,” as prominent Indian lawyer and Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation Apar Gupta wrote in The Indian Express.

Further, he described the law’s emphasis on secrecy, which allows the government to block users’ accounts without disclosing a reason as “an anti-democratic practice that results in an unchecked growth of irrational censorship.”

In its effort to aggressively police content online, the Indian government recently reinforced the law. In February 2021, it unveiled new IT Rules which give it outsized control over the media. Several groups have criticized the rules, including the Editors Guild of India, which described them as “regressive” and “adverse to the freedom of the press,” and three UN Special Rapporteurs, who found that these new regulations fall short of international human rights standards.

Udbhav Tiwari, public policy advisor at Mozilla, warned that the new IT Rules would have “disastrous consequences for the open internet.” The new provisions, he explained, would threaten freedom of expression, privacy, and security, by forcing platforms to verify users’ identities, implement strict time limits for the removal of content or sharing of user information with law enforcement, and expand the government’s ability to remove news media content.

Facebook has already expressed willingness to comply with these rules, raising the question of whether social media companies are enabling undemocratic leaders to censor the internet and stifle critical commentary. By complying with directives that do not conform to international human rights standards for restrictions on freedom of expression, the company becomes complicit in stifling freedoms of speech and of the press around the world.

Race to the Bottom – Legal Exploitation

In its 2021 Freedom on the Net report, Freedom House noted that a “growing number of governments are asserting their authority over tech firms, often forcing the businesses to comply with online censorship and surveillance.” These developments, the report argued, have “contributed to an unprecedented assault on free expression online, causing global internet freedom to decline for an 11th consecutive year.”

Feeding into this trend, in at-risk countries such as Ethiopia, where Facebook has been accused of failing to curb the spread of content inciting violence, the government has introduced a new hate speech and disinformation law that could be used as a  pretext to force tech companies to silence critical voices, according to international rights organization Article 19.

This tactic is not unique to Ethiopia. More and more countries in Africa now are also passing laws against online hate speech. In practice, however, these laws are often an avenue for censorship.

In a recent article, Tomiwa Ilori, an internet researcher at the University of Pretoria, stated that in Africa “real online harms are not only not being adequately addressed by governments but the regulatory responses to these problems are harming freedom of expression.”

Tomiwa argued that, “Nigeria’s Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, Uganda’s Computer Misuse Act, the Kenyan Computer and Cybercrimes Act, and the Malawian Electronic Transactions and Cybersecurity Act are so vaguely worded that they can be weaponized to stifle dissent.”

This slew of new laws will allow these countries to expand their efforts to censor social media content. Social media companies argue that, in these cases, compliance is the lesser evil: if their services are cut off, people in authoritarian countries will be worse off, with fewer means to communicate.

Revenue Versus Responsibility

All of these attempts to regulate online speech point to how the digital ecosystem has now become a hotly contested battleground and why tech giants must, without compromise, place human rights and greater transparency—rather than profit—at the core of their decisions.

Mark Zuckerberg has rejected all claims that his company puts profit over safety. “At the heart of these accusations is this idea that we prioritize profit over safety and well-being. It’s just not true,” he responded to critics in a Facebook post last October.

In 2020 however, Facebook’s ad revenue from all the regions in the Global South amounted to $23 billion. This represented more than half of what it made in the United States and Canada combined. Despite its substantial gains from the region, the company dedicated significantly fewer resources to dealing with misinformation in the Global South.

A Facebook Papers report by The Atlantic showed that only 13 percent of Facebook’s misinformation moderation staff hours were devoted to regions outside the United States, whose populations comprise more than 90 percent of Facebook’s users.

The company’s underinvestment in context-sensitive content moderation in the Global South leaves the door open for authoritarians to cloak their attempts at censorship in a veneer of legitimate concern over unchecked misinformation and incitement of violence. Facebook has a responsibility to strengthen its efforts to combat hate speech and misinformation on its platform to protect its users and prevent autocrats from taking advantage of its negligence to justify ramped-up censorship.

A Way Forward

Access to information and freedom of expression, including public conversation on social media, are a vital part of strong democratic processes.

Regardless of where one stands on how tech giants should navigate challenges from autocratic leaders, the principles of free speech and press freedom should remain non-negotiable.

Social media companies’ failure to place human rights at the core of their operations can create a vacuum of responsibility, which will be exploited by autocratic leaders who have no interest in advancing free speech and defending an independent press.

To safeguard those pillars of democratic society, tech multinationals should significantly increase their investment in the Global South to address the challenge of misinformation and incitement of violence. To that end, these companies should invest in staffing field offices with experts who are familiar with the local context and can be contacted by civil society.

Social media companies should also consider a significant increase of investment in automated systems for detecting speech inciting violence and misinformation in languages other than English, particularly in high-risk regions.

These recommendations are only a starting point. Meta and other social media giants must commit to centering users’ safety and their right to free expression in their policies. For this process to be inclusive, effective, and transparent, these companies need to engage with human rights groups and take steps to prioritize their users in the Global South.

Originally published by the Center for International Media Assistance(CIMA).

Gideon Sarpong is a co-founder of iWatch Africa and a 2021 Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute, School of Trans-national Governance in Florence, Italy. Gideon is also currently a Reuters Fellow at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom.

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For many journalists in West Africa, social media platforms are spaces for  brutal, prolific online harassment and abuse, including targeted attacks that erode the foundations of journalism by chipping away at journalists’ resolve to provide independent, critical reporting of crucial issues. According to a  2020 survey carried out by UNESCO in 15 countries, 73 percent of women report experiencing online violence. Facebook and Twitter were ranked the least safe of the top five platforms used by female journalists.

Award-winning Nigerian journalist Ruona Meyer was targeted in a campaign of extreme online harassment, which lasted almost a year following the publication of her BBC investigation into Nigeria’s cough syrup cartels. Due to her marriage to a German citizen and her association with the BBC, she was accused of being a ‘foreign agent’ by anonymous trolls.

Several leading journalists in Ghana, including Evans Mensah, Israel Laryea, and Gifty Andoh-Appiah, have also received death threats online following the December 2020 elections. A report by the Media Foundation for West Africa captures one of the threats sent directly to journalists’ personal Facebook inboxes:  “We are coming for you. You[r] evil deeds that you colluded with your paymasters to perpetrate during the 2020 elections are exposed and well in the public.”

These threats often lead to physical harm. In 2017, the Committee to Protect Journalists found that in at least 40 percent of cases, journalists who were murdered had received threats, including online threats, before they were killed.

Although social media platforms are increasingly exposing journalists to online harassment, it is hard for many journalists to abandon these platforms altogether because they have become an essential part of their work. Many journalists today rely on social media for posting and promoting their content, following their favorite websites, and interacting with their readers, listeners, or viewers.

Despite these benefits, women in particular face risks online. Several studies have found that women journalists were disproportionately subject to online harassment. The repercussions of these constant attacks can be serious. The UNESCO survey found that many women journalists have had to deal with mental health issues as a result of online violence, and many others have resorted to self-censorship, complete withdrawal from all social media interaction, and avoidance of audience engagement.

Online violence poses a significant risk to the free flow of information, press freedom, and the democratic exchange of ideas. This means that newsrooms and social media companies must take urgent action to  mitigate the problem. Social media companies are failing to stem online violence against journalists globally, leaving the burden on newsrooms and journalists to navigate this minefield.

A 2019 study by the International Press Institute on newsroom best practices, notes that newsrooms with online safety units—one or two designated staff members responsible for tracking cases of harassment and coordinating a response—have proven effective at pre-empting online attacks and addressing those concerns. It concludes that, “without a healthy culture of safety in the newsroom, cases of online harassment—including those that have a profound impact on journalists’ professional and personal lives—will go unreported.”

Research conducted by iWatch Africa on the safety of journalists online provides useful data and recommendations to help newsroom managers in West Africa tackle a problem that is only likely to grow.

The following key considerations are extracted from the guidelines.

• Build Digital Rights Literacy in the Newsroom

Understanding digital rights is an important step in addressing the psychological, physical, and digital safety effects of online abuse. Newsroom managers should make sure their journalists understand how human rights manifest online and how to recognize when those rights are violated. Digital rights literacy is also important in helping journalists participate in discussions about policy development. Ultimately, journalists and media organizations will need to become more involved in digital governance discussions at national, regional, and even global levels in order to truly affect change in this area.

• Create Clear Lines for Reporting Abuse

Newsroom managers must make clear that the media organization itself takes online violence and abuse very seriously. This sends two important messages. First, it helps debunk the widespread feeling among journalists that being targeted with abuse on social media is the new normal. And second, it gives journalists a sense of security that media organizations will support them.

• Conduct Risk Analyses

Newsroom managers must take steps to understand the types of risks that their staff and contributors are facing online. A thorough risk assessment is important to determine which type of support is the most appropriate in the event of an online attack. For example, a credible online threat that is likely to lead to physical harm against a journalist may require newsrooms to report the threat to the police and provide security protection for the journalist involved.

• Implement Support Mechanisms

Support mechanisms need to be put into place to ensure that journalists are able to work without fear of harm or abuse. For example, a journalist could be provided legal support if bringing legal action against an online aggressor would deter future behavior. Other support mechanisms may include psychological support, digital security support, and peer support.

•  Appoint an Online Safety Coordinator

Newsroom managers should appoint an online safety coordinator to whom journalists can report incidents of online harassment. This person would also assess each case of online harassment in coordination with targeted journalists and editors and suggest the appropriate support mechanisms.

Online harassment has become a new mechanism to censor news content. By inundating journalists with a seemingly endless barrage of insults and threats, harassers hope to dissuade specific journalists and even news organizations from covering certain topics. The constant attacks can impact journalists’ quality of life and have, in some cases, affected news coverage. According to a 2017 Council of Europe study, 31 percent of journalists toned down coverage of certain subjects after being harassed, 15 percent dropped the story altogether, and 23 percent did not cover certain stories. The impact on press freedom is all the more dangerous because of the widespread nature of this new threat—it is easier than ever for social media users to deploy armies of faceless bots against their targets. A credible plan to protect journalists and effectively address online harassment is therefore critical to sustaining press freedom and, ultimately, enabling a thriving democracy.

This guide is not intended to be a one-size-fits-all set of protocols. Rather it should be adapted and modified to fit the needs of individual newsrooms. In the long run, these guidelines will require constant reassessment and updating to accommodate rapid changes in technology, social media tools, and the political landscape behind online attacks.

First published by Open Internet for Democracy.

The complete guide can be downloaded here.

Gideon Sarpong is a co-founder of iWatch Africa and a Policy Leader Fellow at the European University Institute, School of Trans-national Governance in Florence, Italy. These guidelines were put together by Gideon Sarpong during his fellowship as a 2020/21 Open Internet for Democracy Leader. Gideon is also currently a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom.

The post The New Censorship: Why Protecting Journalists Online from Harassment is Critical to Press Freedom appeared first on iWatch Africa.

These guidelines, developed by 2020 Open Internet Leader Gideon Sarpong with support from the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) based on research he conducted for iWatch Africa, provide recommendations for West African newsrooms seeking to combat this growing threat. Tailored to the West African context, these guidelines suggest steps newsrooms can take to prioritize the safety of their employees, while keeping in mind the limited resources of many news outlets across the region.

Download Resource Here.

The post Guidelines for Newsrooms in West Africa appeared first on iWatch Africa.